The senator warns of a long fire season, plans to push back on tariffs

PENDLETON — A crowd of about 120 cheered for Sen. Ron Wyden after a 75-minute town hall Wednesday night, April 23, in Pendleton that covered questions on agriculture, health care and Social Security.

Before the audience inside Pendleton High School’s auditorium started asking questions, Wyden offered an update on the anticipated 2025 wildfire season. He said he met with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland and was told that despite a good snowpack, the upcoming fire season could be a bad one.

“It is going to be, based on their projections, a longer, hotter summer for Eastern Oregon with less rain,” said Wyden. “We know that we had a horrible fire season last year. Now if it’s going to be hotter, particularly in Eastern Oregon, we are going to have our hands full.”

The senator also said with U.S. Forest Service staff members laid off earlier this year, he worries about whether there will be enough support to effectively address wildland fires this summer and fall.

One audience member asked more about how the staff will manage with cuts.

“I’ll be making that call tomorrow to my colleagues and to the agencies in D.C. trying to get them ready,” said Wyden. “I’m not going to sit around and just ignore the fact that we were told that this is going to be a real problem, probably coming up in the next couple of months, earlier than people thought.”

Science and agriculture

Other people asked about the federal government’s “assault on science” and risks of research loss at centers such as the co-located U.S. Department of Agriculture Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center and Oregon State University Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center in Adams, about 9 miles east of Pendleton.

“It’s a national treasure,” one wheat grower said of the research station, “and I’m sorry to say that stress on funding is causing attrition and it’s of extreme concern to the growers.”

Wyden said wheat prices aren’t high enough and he’s paying attention to the possibility of tariffs.

He also announced that during the week of April 28 to May 2, he and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, will put forward a privileged motion to “knock out completely the Trump across the board tariffs” because of the harm they’ll cause.

“This is fundamentally a restoration of Article I of the Constitution,” he said. “My biggest grievance with the administration is they’re trampling all over the great work that the Founding Fathers did.”

Health care, Social Security and disability

A few people asked about disability services, health care access, Medicare and Medicaid and protecting private health information.

“In a sense, health care is always the most important issue,” he said. “If you and your loved ones don’t have your health, everything else goes by the board, so this is a special priority of mine.”

One person said he was particularly concerned about out-of-pocket costs increasing if health care benefits are cut back. In response, Wyden said he is opposed to making Medicare a voucher program and believes the program is “a guarantee of core basic benefits” for people.

About disability services, Wyden said he supports the program.

“I want you to know it’ll be over my body that they run over making those kinds of reductions in social security,” he said. “I’m very troubled by some of the privacy violations being perpetrated by (the Department of Government Efficiency) in connection with people’s benefits.”

Another way that privacy came up was with regard to health information. One audience member referred to an idea proposed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has suggested a registry for people with autism spectrum disorder.

“The second that he gets serious about this proposal,” Wyden said, “we’re going to be asking questions about it in the finance committee. Count on it.”

Wyden also encouraged attendees to call their representatives as well as friends in other states to talk about the issues they care about. He told them to choose a topic they care about and learn everything they can about it before finding others who care about the same thing.

Reflecting on the town hall, Wyden said he heard a variety of concerns from constituents.

“It’s pretty clear that they’re unhappy about a variety of issues,” he said. “Health care and the economy and their liberties and Social Security, a lot of words that are all about freedom, and that’s kind of what Umatilla County is all about.”

Wyden visits each county in Oregon at least once per year to hold town hall events. The one in Pendleton marked the senator’s 1,112th town hall during his nearly 30 years in the Senate.